US passenger stabs flight attendant, tries to open emergency door

An airline passenger in the US allegedly tried to open the exit door and stabbed a flight attendant three times in the neck onboard a United Airlines plane in mid-flight.

The accused, identified as 33-year-old Francisco Severo Torres, stabbed the flight attendant with a broken spoon. He was arrested on Sunday after the plane landed at Boston Logan International Airport.

The incident occurred onboard United Flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston. The flight had almost reached its destination when the crew found out that one of the doors on the plane had been disarmed.

A flight attendant went to check and found that the locking handle of the door had been moved. The crew immediately secured the door and confronted Torres about it.

They alerted the captain that the passenger likely "posed a threat to the aircraft." The suspect then got out of his seat and attacked one of the crew members, per a statement by the US Attorney's Office for Massachusetts.

At this point, other passengers rushed to help the attendant and managed to restrain him until landing. The man has been charged with attempted interference with flight crew members using a weapon. He could face a potential life sentence in prison if he is found guilty of the act, per The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, United Airlines has barred him from any future flights with the carrier. "We have zero tolerance for any type of violence on our flights, and this customer will be banned from flying on United pending an investigation," the airline said.

This is not the first incident wherein a person tried to open the emergency exit of a plane mid-flight. Several such incidents have been reported from across the world over the years.

In a similar incident reported last year from the US, a woman tried to open the door of an aircraft at 37,000 feet when the plane was on its way to Columbus from Houston. The 34-year-old woman, identified as Elom Agbegninou, later claimed that "Jesus told her to open the plane door," according to court documents.

She forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in Little Rock, Arkansas, after she tried to pull the exit lever, which led to a scuffle between the woman and the crew.

In 2019, an El Al airline passenger tried to jump out of an aircraft after opening the emergency exit of the flight that landed at New York's John F. Kennedy airport. The incident happened after Flight LY001 from Tel Aviv to New York, carrying 400 passengers, arrived at the gate at around 9 p.m. EDT.

The male passenger, who was only identified as a U.S. citizen, hung onto the emergency exit door after managing to open it, while a couple of flight attendants held onto him to prevent him from jumping. He was arrested by the local police later.

In 2017, a flight had to be diverted after officials said a passenger became aggressive, attacked the crew with pots of coffee, and tried to open the cabin door while the plane was still in the air.

The man, who was later identified as Brandon Michael Courneyea, had to be secured to his seat by crew members and other passengers aboard the Air Canada flight using zip ties. Courneyea was flying from Jamaica to Toronto when the incident happened, forcing the plane to land at Orlando International Airport.

He was arrested by federal agents and charged with assault or intimidation of a flight crew member or flight attendant and interfering with the performance of duties.

Even though several people have tried to open the emergency exit doors of the planes, it is not humanly possible to open them because of the massive cabin pressure. The emergency doors can be opened when the flight is on the ground, but that too is difficult as flight doors are held secure by a series of mechanical and electrical latches.